Dispensing package



Patented Mar. 26, 1940 i STATES TE'i orrics 9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in packages, containers, and fillers therefor, wherein, the contents are to be packed in uniform regularity, and more particularly to a method and means 5 for opening suchi package orcontainer, and for dispensing the contents therefrom. 1,. \The invention is described herein, for illustrative purposes, as. applied to cigarette packages, :df the type wherein the cigarettes are enclosed in a foil paper wrapper, folded over at the ends,- and sealed by a revenue stamp, this being a conventional type of cigarette package.

Most smokers, inopening a package of cigarettes, tear the package at one corner, leaving the remainder sealed to protect unused contents of the package, and hence are familiar with the difliculties of opening the package without completely mutilating the folded over ends, and the contents, and also acquainted with the difliculty 2 of extracting the first cigarettes from the package without tearing the ends.

One of the principal objects of the invention, then is to provide a means to facilitate opening 1 of a package of this nature at the corner only, 25 and another important object is to provide means whereby the first portion of the contents, e. g. the

first cigarettes, may be partially ejected without mutilation, the usual pounding of the package and possible bending, or tearing of the ends of 30 the cigarettes.

Another object contemplates a double action dispensing principle in which cigarettes may be ejected from any desired portion of the package, and the remaining cigarettes kept separated and 35 properly packed in the container, thereby further minimizing the possibility of breaking or bending, either during removal of a cigarette or while being carried in the smokers pocket-f A still further object is to provide a dispensing 0 medium which will function as a covering for that part of the package which has been torn open, thereby protecting the freshness of the cigarettes, and preventing fine tobacco from leaking out.

Many eiiorts have been made heretofore to provide dispenslngdevices for cigarette packages, but for one reason or another, such as complexity of structure, difficulty of assembling the package,

50 or difiiculty in satisfactorily ejecting acigarette,

they have not been found practical. It is accordingly another object of this invention to provide a simple, non-complicated, mechanical working unit which eliminates the necessity'of tearing the 55 end of the package to open the same, and at the (o1. ace-41.2)

same time avoids tearing or mutilation of the cigarette.

To the attainment of the foregoing, and other objects which will appear as the description pro-' ceeds, reference may be'made to the drawing, in which:

Fig. i is a perspective view of a cigarette package showing the invention in operative position.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the package, showing the contents and the application of the invention thereto,

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the package, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a dispensing unit.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals designate like parts, there will be found a cigarette package it of conventional construction wherein a paper cup or wrapper Hencases the usual foil wrapper having folded over ends l2, sealed by a revenue stamp it. In the ordinary use of these packages,

a corner portion N of the ends I? will be torn ofi, thereby exposing the ends of the cigarettes l5, and when it is desired to remove a cigarette, it is necessary to tip the package upside down and dig at the cigarette, usually with theresult that $5 the end of the cigarette is mutilated before it can be removed.

This invention contemplates the insertion of a dispensing unit, generally designated at it, formed from a strip of Cellophane, Celluloid, or 39 any desired material of proper resilience, folded td an oblong box-shape, having one upstanding side portion IT, a bottom wall "it, another longer side portion 19 opposed thereto, and a covering or cap portion 23 formed with a tab or flap 2t,

An auxiliary tab strip 22 is struck out of the side I1, or may be formed by attaching a. separate strip to the outer face of the wall of side H.

The width'of the strip it will be such as to fit closely between the front and back walls of the 4 cigarette packagaand the spacing between the side portions IT and It, preferably will be suflicient to accommodate two rows or tiers of cigarettes I 5.

In the use of the device, the unit It willbe inserted in the package, with the side it nearest the center of the package, the side I! adjacent an end wall of thepackage, the tab 22 projecting slightly from the package through a slit 23, provided for the purpose. The cap portion 20 will be folded across the top of the cigarettes, beneath the ends I2, and the flange or tab 2| will be tucked down inside.

From the foregoing description, the use and operation of the device will be readily apparent.

When it is desired to open the package, this may be accomplished by lifting the cover portion 20, which is of sufficient firmness to be grasped, thereby tearing the foil about the corner of the package, and if found desirable, the foil may be perforated to facilitate this action. 'Also, the tab 23, which projects from the side of the package, may be lifted, thereby raising the unit I8 sufficiently to open the corner of the package Ill.

The cover portion 20 may be raised to tear the foil by' grasping the edges thereof, which can be felt immediately beneath the foil along the cor-.- ners of the package, but preferably the flap 2| will be tucked around the cigarettes immediately above the section or side ll of the strip, as illustrated in Fig.2. Thus, when the tab 22 is lifted, it will force the section I! up against the flap 2|, raising the cover portion 20 with resultant rupturing of the foil and opening of the corner of the package.

It will be observed that the upper end of. the section or side I] of the strip is tapered off, and if for any reason such end fails to abut the flap 2|, or even in the absence of a flap, such as-2l,

liftingthe side H by means of the tab 22 would have the effect of cutting the foil along the corner edge of the package, as the section H is forced upwardly,

. When it is desired to remove a cigarette, an upward pull on the cap portion 20 will lift the second tier of cigarettes from the end of the package, or a pull on the tab 23 will lift the' first tier of cigarettes. Thereafter, the unused cigarettes which project can be pushed back into the package, the'cap portion 20 folded thereover,

and the tab or iiange'2l tucked back into the package, package.

Thus a double action principle is provided in the pull from the top cap portion 20 and also the auxiliary tab strip 22 on the ends. One creates a positive pull'and the other a push and a pull. This principle adds 50% more efliciency without added expense in manufacture, and may be utilized with a standard form of package uni-' versally adopted by manufacturers.

The top or cap portion 20 maybe used independently as a covering, or when a foil wrapper is provided, as a medium for opening the foil when pressure is applied to the cap opener through the tab 2|.

When the cigarettes forming the tiers within thereby effectively closing up the the unit It have been used, then the unit It may be removed and the cigarettes remaining in the package removed in a conventional manner.

While not essential to the use of this invention, it may be found desirable to duplicate the unit It at the opposite end of the package, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Since the law requires that the revenue stamp be placed on the package in such a position as to be mutilated when the package is opened, it is contemplated that the length of the cap portion 20 will be suflicient to extend partially under the revenue stamp, thereby tearing same when the package is opened, or when the first cigarette is removed.

By the use of the simple unit herein described, the user is afiorded speed in opening the package, accessibility to the cigarettes, and protection to the cigarettes, both in removal and in protecting those left in the package. I

While the invention has been described herein as particularly applied to a cigarette package, it

is to be understood that such description is intended primarily as illustrative and not as limiting. The invention is applicable to other types of packages and containers, wherein the contents are to be packed in uniform regularity, and

especially where the contents may be flimsy in nature.

projecting through the container when in its wrapped and sealed condition, said section having suflicient firmness that a pull on the protruding end of said tab will force the edge of said strip outwardly through the wrapped container to open same and project a cigarette through the open part ofthecontainer.

2. The combination with a cigarette container,

of a flexible strip independent of the material of said container, adapted to be passed around a plurality of cigarettes in the container with an end section of the strip lying between said cigarettes and the adjacent container wall, said section having a tab portion attached thereto and projecting through the container when in its wrapped and sealed condition, said section having sumcient firmness that a pull on the protruding end of said tab will force the edge of said strip outwardly through the wrapped container to open same and project a cigarette through the open part of the container, said strip having a cover portion effective to close the container after it has once been opened.

3. The combination with a cigarette container,

of a flexible strip independent of the material of said container, adapted to be passed around a plurality of cigarettes in the container with an end section of the strip lying between said .cigarettes and the adjacent container wall, said section having a tab portion attached thereto and projecting through the container when in its wrapped-and sealed condition, said strip having a cover portion positioned to close the container, once it has been opened, an'd'said cover portion having an end positioned, when the package is closed, in the plane of said end section of the strip, said end section and said cover 4 portion each being of sufficient firmness that a pull on the protruding end'of said tab will force the edge of said strip and the cover portion outwardly through the wrapped container to open same and project a cigarette through the open part of the container.

4. The combination with a cigarette container, of a flexible strip independent of the material of said container, adapted to be passed around a plurality of cigarettes in the container with an end section of the strip lying between said cigarettes and the adjacent container wall, said section having a tab portion attached thereto and projecting through the container when in its wrapped and sealed condition, said section having sufficient firmness that a pull on the protruding end of said tab will force the edge of said strip outwardly through the wrapped container to open same and project a cigarette through the open Part of the container, the wrapper of said container being perforated in the region engageable by said section to facilitate opening'of the container.

5. The combination with a cigarettecontainer, of a flexible strip independent of the material of said container, adapted to be passed around a plurality of cigarettes in the container with an end section of the strip lying between said cigarettes and the adjacent container wall, said section having a tab portion attachedthereto and projecting through the container when in its wrapped and sealed condition, said strip having a cover portion positioned to close the container. once it has been opened. and said cover portion having-an end positioned, when the package is closed, in the plane of said end section of the strip, said end section and said cover portion each .being of suflicient firmness that a pull 'on the protruding end of said tab will force the edge of said strip, and the cover portion outwardly through the wrapped container to open same and project a cigarette through the open part of the container. the wrapper of said container being perforated in the region engageabl by said cover portion to facilitate opening of the container.

6. The combination with acigarette container,

'of a flexible strip independent of, the material of said container, adapted to be passed around a plurality of cigarettes in the container with an end section of the strip lying between said cigarettes and the adjacent container wall, said section having a tab portion attached thereto and projecting through the container when in its wrapped and sealed condition, said section having a sharpened or tapered end and suflicient firmness that a pull on the protruding end of said tab will force the tapered end of said section outwardly to open the container.

- 7. A combined opener, dispenser and closure unit for the contents of packages and containers,

wherein the contents are packed in substantially uniform regularity, comprising a flexible strip member effective to 'encase aportion of the contents, and a closure'member initially positioned beneath a wrapped and sealed portion of the package, said closure member being effective to close the package after said wrapped portion has been ruptured and opened by movement of 8. An ejector unit for dispensing cigarettesfrom a package, comprising a base, side walls extending therefrom, a cover portion, and tab means secured to one of said side walls and projecting through the package when in its wrapped and sealed condition for forcing said unit through the wrapping of the package, and for raising and lowering said unit, and cigarettes encased therewithin, with respect to the package.

9. The combination with a container having a sealed wrapper thereabout. of a flexible strip independent of the material of said container adapted to be passed around a portion of the contents of the container, with an end section of the strip lying between said contents and the adjacent container wall, said strip including means forming part thereof positioned within the wrapper of the container and of suflicient firmness that a movement of the strip outwardly will rupture the wrapper and project said portion of the contents through the ruptured part of the container. and means to move the strip outwardly.

wnnim'r mancrs nmns. 

